Gareth Southgate: 'I've talked Kyle Walker out of England retirement twice'
Much has been made of England's talent reserves at right-back, where the likes of Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Ben White have all shone for their respective clubs.
However, despite his advancing years, Manchester City's Walker remains England's undisputed first-choice in that position, and the 33-year-old finally opened his account for his country on his 77th appearance in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Ukraine.
A deep-lying Harry Kane picked out the run of Walker with an inch-perfect pass over the top, and the defender produced a sublime first touch before poking home from close range to cancel out Oleksandr Zinchenko's opener.
The 33-year-old could have very well hung up his international boots without making the net ripple for the Three Lions, though, as Southgate has confirmed that Walker had thoughts of retirement after the most recent Euros and World Cup.
However, the England boss was able to talk the «world-class» out of his decision on both occasions, although he joked that Walker may not be too happy with his manager for volunteering that information.
«I've talked him out of [international] retirement twice, after the Euros and after the World Cup. I think he loves being here and he's wanted to keep going and now he's thinking about how many caps can he get,» BBC Sport quotes Southgate as saying.
«He's critical to us. If we're talking about world-class players in their position in our team then he's probably one of them. I think he didn't realise how much value we have for him and how important he is for us. He's probably not
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